It’s a Family Affair for Trufant

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. – It will be a family reunion in Seattle this week for Jets cornerback Isaiah Trufant, who will be playing against his brother Marcus Trufant of the Seahawks.

It is the first time the two bothers will have played against each other in the NFL and it comes at a time when Isaiah continues to develop as a player. Seen primarily as a special teams asset earlier this year, Isaiah is now factoring into the back end, especially after the Week 3 season ending injury of Darrelle Revis. Watching him in practice, it is obvious that his confidence is growing in what is now his second year in the league.

Sunday will be a special moment for Isaiah, who grew up just a 30 minute drive from Seattle in nearby Tacoma.

“It will be fun, it will be fun for the whole family though and good to see all of them again,” Isaiah told The Jets Blog. “I think the jerseys will be pretty evenly split for my family, some wearing Seahawks and some Jets, right down the line. They’ll want to support both of us.”

Big brother Marcus is the reason why Isaiah is in the NFL today.

He remembers growing up and watching his brother play Little League Football and standing on the sidelines, wanting to be like him. He’d play touch football with him growing up but when he was old enough to play, he joined him on the same team. They would push each other and workout and go through drills and the memories from those days still stick with the Jets cornerback.

“I remember watching him carry the ball and he’d be running for a touchdown. I wouldn’t be in the game and I’d be sprinting down the sidelines, cheering him on, running with him,” Isaiah said. “Those were fun days.”

The two are competitive and Isaiah remembers games of pick-up basketball growing up that still become all-out affairs to this day. There isn’t trash talk – “that really isn’t what we’re about” – but he said he’d like nothing better than to emerge from Seattle with a win for the Jets.

Then he can give his brother a hug after the game and enjoy the moment.

“I haven’t seen him for a long time, since before camp and stuff,” Isaiah said. “It will be a good feeling to see him and my whole family again. I’m really looking forward to this weekend.”

Kristian R. Dyer covers the Jets for Metro New York and also contributes to Yahoo!Sports. He can be followed for news, insight and snarky comments @KristianRDyer.